Doctor has suggested I ^might^ have Crohn's disease. Does anyone suffer with it, how bad is it?

[Meglet]

I have what seems to be bad IBS but it has been mentioned it might be Crohns disease so the hospital want to investigate at some point, AFAIK I will need to have a GA and a colonoscopy.

I think my IBS is stress related and pretty relentless, it's just a pity I can't remove all the stress from my life. When I get a few hours to myself my stomach calms down.

Obviously I have googled it and it seems pretty grim. Are you obviously very poorly with Crohns or can it present as IBS but get worse over time.

TIA.

Sure somebody better will come along but FWIW - SFIL (if that makes sense) has Crohn's disease. Obviously this can be really, really grim, but hasn't physically been so in his case. For him it is all emotional/stress related: he panics about having a toilet close in case he needs it but has no other real symptoms.

Unfortunately though he has allowed it to rule his life to the extent that he has not worked in 40 years. I guess - and flame me if you like - I look at a life of over 70 years' duration and wish he had sorted out some ways of dealing with stress rather than just withdrawing from life almost entirely.

Meglet, I know someone with it and he's fully functioning, works full time and is more active than me. Not saying it's a good thing to have, but he's proof that living with it can be okay.

My dad has it. He was quite Ill for a while but that's because it was undiagnosed. Once it was diagnosed he covered really well, but has been unwell again in recent years BUT he likes alcohol (a lot) and he really shouldn't drink it. I'm sure he'd be a lot healthier if he had a better diet.

Thanks all .

I have time off over Xmas so I'm going to see if I feel any better when I slow down .

might it be coeliac? some similar symptoms iirc (after frantic googling all summer )

I have some gluten free bread in the freezer at the moment, it's a bit sawdusty.

I'm sure my sisters lodger suffers from CD, I'll have to find out what she eats.

I have it, it is pretty much ok, but i have a friend who has it much worse and has been in hospital, whereas mine is ok with meds and in fact i've been off meds for ages. so there is a huge spectrum really, i was told I had ibs but my symptoms definitely pointed to soemthing worse, the colonoscopy gave a definitive answer. i had terrible spells with it, but once diagnosed, and meds were given which i did take for a long time, it was fine, i felt a lot better generally.

it's not that bad- I recommend it (coeliac diet. Not the bread. It sucks )

only thing is if you come off gluten you'd have to go back on it again for at least two weeks before the colonoscopy- and it ain't purdy, ime

I started with mild symptoms around age 15/16 years. On and off bouts then got worse and worse until i was about 27 when I had a terrible bout of it and was v poorly and was on the verge of hosptial admission, did recover, we'd just moved house, new docs listened to symptons, said it is crohsn or colitis and referred me straight way, i have BUPA so got appt within a week

i had basicallly been pooing blood, for over a week. the pain was indescribable, constant fever, pains, vomiting, ill, just could not move from the sofa

never had it like that since. thank god i was diagnosed

my symptoms now are some pain/ low grade fever from time to time

sorry Lulu- x posts. I didn't mean Crohns wasn't that bad

Would you ever have guessed that Carrie Grant has Crohns? I've read an interview she did about it.

lulu . What meds do you have to take for it, I assumed treatment was just down to a change of diet.

I haven't been very ill though, I'm hoping the consultant is just being extra cautious.

i know springheel ! dont worry.

i take an anti inflammatory called asacol when i need it....

i am lucky, apart from the one really bad episode, i have been ok

treatment can vary from nothing.. to a change in diet, to surgery and everything in between

you'll know more if you get a diagnosis

as it hapens, my brother was diagnosed with it a few years ago and my sister has ulcerative colitis. both take meds when neede and are well on the whole

i was referred to an IBD nurse at the local hopstial, but nveer needed her

Meglet if it's coeliac, that's easily controllable by diet

they'll check for all possibilities while they're down there

I've had Crohn's since I was about 8 (now in my thirties). The severity can really vary a lot from person to person. I've been quite ill on and off, and on medication of various sorts since childhood, but it has been manageable, and hasn't had a huge impact on my life (at least so far), apart from inconvenience and lots of doctor's visits. I've completed two university degrees, and since then have always worked full time, so don't feel it's affected my career. I'm also fairly physically active. So far as how the symptoms present - mine were quite IBS-like to begin with, but when untreated for a while they just keep going downhill to the point of losing lots of weight, not being able to eat, not having any energy, and needing medication to get me functional again.